It’s Bonus Thursday!
This week, we’re not featuring two books; instead, we’re featuring two series for new and developing readers. That’s FOUR (!) books. Both the Critter-Cam and A to Z Mysteries series each have two books eligible this year. With alpacas, bats, cats, and dogs, these books have you covered A to D. (ha!)
The reviews included below were written about at least one of the books in each series. Even though they may not be title-specific, our judges’ observations give you a sense of what to expect and a flavor of the series as a whole.
Summaries are excerpted from Goodreads. Click the book cover to see the full summary.
EASY READERS
See the world from a pet’s point of view via the video camera perched on its head in these playful and energetic Pre-Level 1 Ready-to-Read books in the Critter-Cam series!
Sandy @ Goodreads – A delightful way to empower the earliest reading beginners with the joys of books and reading. Palatini and Yaccarino provide tons of personality and pacing with their page-turning choices of words used, perspectives, and the emotional reactions captured in the assumed “go-pro” style head cam. This has everything going for it, including re-read-ability and appeal even after more complex skills develop.
Kirsten @ Goodreads – The point of view on the left page is from an outsider and the camera view is on the right. This is such a clever way to explore an animal’s point of view and the text is short and simple. Early readers will love it.
EARLY CHAPTER BOOK
Solve Animal Mysteries from A to Z! Young clue hunters Abbi, Daniel, and Lydia sniff out the mystery behind a group of missing alpacas. Inspired by Ron Roy's beloved A to Z Mysteries series, this spin-off is perfect for budding young chapter-book readers--and future detectives!
Kirsten @ Goodreads – Bats in the Castle was a captivating mystery that also taught so many facts about bats and helped make them less scary to children.
This was a wonderfully written book and I look forward to reading the rest in the series!
Sandy @ Goodreads – This addition to an appealing series has many strengths- natural readability, diverse characters with humor and curiosity, solid friendships, technology and science content well-suited to the target age, and a subject that can’t be beat- BATS! The analytic and investigative approach of the kids is impressive and yet a mystery adds just enough side-suspense to have kids recommending this one to each other.